ES 350 Lowered on Camry Springs

well, I heard dropping any car will have harsher ride quality anyways! but coilovers will definitely improve this harsher ride, but will nowhere be as smooth as a stock lexus! The handling on the ES is horrible on turns, so dropping the car is like a double edge sword ....ahh the dilemma, ride quality or handling...

well, I heard dropping any car will have harsher ride quality anyways! but coilovers will definitely improve this harsher ride, but will nowhere be as smooth as a stock lexus! The handling on the ES is horrible on turns, so dropping the car is like a double edge sword ....ahh the dilemma, ride quality or handling...

Agreed that any lowering is going to make the ride less of that traditional Lexus feel, but the coil overs make it less painful. I rode with a friend that did coil overs instead of only springs and I like the ride quality. It was better than my car in overall comfort.

For my drop I used springs for the Camry SE V6 model. With springs costing ~$250 for the set I'm suggesting purchasing coil-overs at ~$850 instead. The extra money is worth better ride quality; especially in a Lexus.

You guys gotta understand that a car is engineered as it's stock ride height. Meaning that when you change the ride height, the geometry of the vehicle is no longer stable. Ride height will always suffer. I learned this when I lifted my first truck.

With any application, lowering springs alone will give you bad ride quality. If you can afford a luxury car, you can afford to buy some coil overs and do it the right way. Some vehicles require further modification. I just sold a 2001 Trans Am, and on those cars you need relocation brackets for the rear lower control arms and an on-car adjustable panhard rod so the rear of the vehicle can find its center.

Here is the link for the Camry set. Megan makes a set labeled for the ES350 I believe it ends up being the same part number as the Toyota ones. I'd call them directly. You can also find them on Amazon from time to time a little less expensive.

You guys gotta understand that a car is engineered as it's stock ride height. Meaning that when you change the ride height, the geometry of the vehicle is no longer stable. Ride height will always suffer. I learned this when I lifted my first truck.

With any application, lowering springs alone will give you bad ride quality. If you can afford a luxury car, you can afford to buy some coil overs and do it the right way. Some vehicles require further modification. I just sold a 2001 Trans Am, and on those cars you need relocation brackets for the rear lower control arms and an on-car adjustable panhard rod so the rear of the vehicle can find its center.

Agreed. The only additional parts you may want to consider with lowering the ES is alignment tools to correct the camber (depending on how low you drop the car) to prevent poor tire wear. Here is a link to a set of Eibach ones.

I didn't use them when I installed my springs because the drop was only 1"-1.4" and after a proper alignment my camber didn't suffer too much.

AFAIK, they don't make front sways for the Camry / ES350. UltraRacing makes a front strut bar for the car and a rear sway, along with some other chassis stiffening bars, but no front sway.

Now that I have Megan Coilovers on my car, I'm considering getting the rear sway - I already have the Ultra Racing strut bar.

On my ES, lowering it to give a roughly 1-1.5 finger gap - I was still able to get it aligned without adding a camber kit or anything.

Only thing that still bothers me about the car is the power steering - not sure if there's anything easy I can do about that other than replacing the entire power steering rack with one from another car. I've read about some folks who have put a resistor on the power steering wire to give it less boost.

I'm hoping I'll be satisfied with the handling of the car after doing these changes. Or maybe I'll just buy a different car haha...

Anyway - I'd recommend starting with coilovers on the car first. It will improve the handling - but expect that it will also remove the smoothness of the ride, and you will start to feel bumps a lot more, get a bit of "bounciness", etc ... and at least in my experience with the Megans - with the coilovers on their softest setting.

so what would you do? aftermarket springs are a good half measure but would you not rather through a rocker in there, some sways and mybe new stereing hydraulic?

My recommendation would be the coil-overs first. Sway bars may help too I just haven't experienced too much flex in the chassis. I'm not taking my ES350 to the track or anything; I just prefer the lower ride height for looks and a little more stability. Lowering it takes the "mushiness" feel out of the ride and it seems to like windy roads a lot more now.

AFAIK, they don't make front sways for the Camry / ES350. UltraRacing makes a front strut bar for the car and a rear sway, along with some other chassis stiffening bars, but no front sway.

Now that I have Megan Coilovers on my car, I'm considering getting the rear sway - I already have the Ultra Racing strut bar.

On my ES, lowering it to give a roughly 1-1.5 finger gap - I was still able to get it aligned without adding a camber kit or anything.

Only thing that still bothers me about the car is the power steering - not sure if there's anything easy I can do about that other than replacing the entire power steering rack with one from another car. I've read about some folks who have put a resistor on the power steering wire to give it less boost.

I'm hoping I'll be satisfied with the handling of the car after doing these changes. Or maybe I'll just buy a different car haha...

Anyway - I'd recommend starting with coilovers on the car first. It will improve the handling - but expect that it will also remove the smoothness of the ride, and you will start to feel bumps a lot more, get a bit of "bounciness", etc ... and at least in my experience with the Megans - with the coilovers on their softest setting.

Ryan, that has been my experience too with my buddy's ES that runs coil-overs. I have a lot of "bounciness" with just the springs as well. The biggest downfall of the springs-only application is the shocks "bottoming out" on larger bumps.

Ryan, that has been my experience too with my buddy's ES that runs coil-overs. I have a lot of "bounciness" with just the springs as well. The biggest downfall of the springs-only application is the shocks "bottoming out" on larger bumps.

What about the power steering bothers you?

The power steering problem is mostly that the feel of the steering seems very loose (easy to turn the wheel) - almost like a video game steering wheel that has no resistance. On previous cars I've driven, the power steering boost is only at low speeds and at higher speeds you actually have resistance at speed. There is also a very large "dead center spot" where you can move the steering wheel left or right but it doesn't move the wheels.

The power steering is fine at lower speeds, but there seems to be way too much boost at higher speeds. Do you have any ideas how to change that? I've read some different ideas, from lowering the voltage that goes to the power steering using a resistor, to putting a thickening agent into your power steering fluid (that sounds dangerous / could damage the power steering) - but I've also heard it is relatively easy to swap in a power steering rack from a different car.

would you guys ever consider using air suspension, like phantom air by VIP? I was always interested in doing this and was wondering if using air suspension will simmer the "bounciness"

I haven't experienced an air-ride system in a Lexus but I've had it on two previous vehicles. It does indeed minimize the bounce and gives one hell of a smooth ride that can be adjusted. They tend to be expensive and I have had trouble finding quality shops that know what they are doing with installing air-ride systems.

If you find a good system and get a qualitybinstallni don't think you'll be disappointed.